I hadn’t visited the “Murray Recreation Complex” recently so I decided to spend my Saturday morning there. It was cloudy and in the mid to upper 60s. In all I walked 2 miles and back or 4 miles. While there I saw Tennessee Warbler, Yellow Warbler, Cedar Waxwing, Chestnut-sided Warbler, Scissor-tailed Flycatcher, Orchard Oriole, Baltimore Oriole, and a first of season Anhinga.
Camp Robinson Special Use Area 4/29/2011
I birded Camp Robinson SUA near Mayflower Friday morning. I was surprised by the storm damage. It looks like a tornado came through the area, and maybe one did, with the storms that hit Vilonia so bad. The newly renovated shooting range was hit and looks to have serious damage and the adjacent warbler spot we go to had many tree uprooted and broken in half. However, once you get past that there was no damage. My target bird was Bachman’s Sparrow and it seemed a perfect day for it, sunny not too cold not too hot not too windy. I traveled along the areas I know of that have the proper habitat but could not find any. I did however pick up 40 species of birds including FOS Tennessee Warbler and Wilson’s Warbler.
Gillam and Allsopp Parks 4/28/2011
Taking Thursday morning off, I decided to hit Gillam Park which I hadn’t been to in about 11 days (a long time during spring migration). I arrived at 7:20 and started down the main trail. Of course after all the rain, the back side was flooded so it didn’t take as long to walk as usual. The bird count seemed low to me with only 26 species for the morning but I did manage to see Chestnut-sided Warbler, Hooded Warbler, Lincoln’s Sparrow, Summer Tanager, Baltimore Oriole, Orchard Oriole, plus first of season Magnolia Warbler, Kentucky Warbler, and Philadelphia Vireo. According to Dan, Philadelphia Vireo is a new bird for the park.
